Array
by Mya Latti
Summary: Oneshot #7: "All's well that ends well, right?" Tails didn't realise just how wrong he was — Post Perfect Chaos battle. Amy, Tails friendship. These are a set of oneshots that will hopefully get rid of my writer's block.
1. Disc Jockey

I've had terrible writer's block as of late, so I thought that maybe writing a whole lot of drabbly oneshots would help break this. Thus far it hasn't, but I think this one is getting me there. So this is the first one in a set of oneshots, which I'll hopefully get around to writing soon. If not, it'll stand alone.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Sonic and all related characters. Word.

* * *

**Disc Jockey**.

* * *

_"Some official character art and a television commercial for Sonic Adventure suggests that he has a personal hobby as a Disc Jockey,"  
—_ Sonic's profile on the wiki.

* * *

"Come on Knuckles, don't look so down," Rouge cooed. "You should just be grateful that I'm letting you into my club for free," This was echoed by Tails and Amy who were seated opposite him in their booth, though it didn't do much good, he could hardly hear them over the ridiculous music.

He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "How did Sonic get out of this anyway? It seems like the sort of thing that he'd like,"

"He went out running earlier and didn't get home in time," Tails shrugged. "I'm sure he can come another time with us though, right, Rouge?" He looked over to her hopefully. Knuckles thought this was kind of strange, for someone who liked to spend all day in his workshop, he sure was enjoying being out. Why was the fox even here though? He was eight years old, that was entirely too young to be hanging out in a club! The same went for Amy, she wasn't as old as him either. Well, she did live _alone _in downtown Station Square, so she was probably used to a rough neighbourhood. But still...

"Anytime, darling,"

Great. Now he'd be forced to come back again because Rouge would fake being offended if he didn't and everyone else wouldn't let up until he said yes, which was pretty much why he was here this time. He would have preferred just to be on his island looking after the emerald, but instead he was in Club Rouge surrounded by people talking and dancing (a situation that he would have been just as happy to never experience, yet here he was). It was awful, the lights were too bright and the music was way louder than it should have been. It was safe to say that he wasn't enjoying himself one single bit.

He turned away from them to show his disagreement to the idea of having to return and instead looked over to the dancefloor. People were everywhere and he just _knew _that Rouge was going to try and get him up to dance later (which of course he would say no to). Oh boy, this night was certainly going to get worse before it got better. He continued to survey the room, but stopped when he saw the DJ. It was a very familiar blue hedgehog, the only noticeable difference was the pair of glasses perched on his nose.

_Surely not, it couldn't be..._

No one else seemed to have noticed yet and considering (he hated to admit this) he was usually the last to figure things out, it was actually quite unnerving. So he turned back to Rouge and asked, "What's the DJ's name?"

"He's called Sonique," She replied. "He claims to play the fastest records in the city, so his name pays homage to Sonic,"

"Right," He said, looking towards the DJ again. The similarities were striking, it had to be him. "They look an awful lot alike,"

"Not that much," Tails shrugged, turning to see himself. Amy followed and muttered something about being able to recognise him from anywhere, so it couldn't possibly be their friend. "He's taller than Sonic," But Knuckles wasn't convinced, there was too much evidence to back it up.

"Knuckles, we're going to go dance," Rouge said, standing up from her seat. "You coming with us?" A few minutes ago there was no way in hell he would have said yes, but he found himself nodding and following them into the mass of people. It was an extremely uncomfortable situation for an echidna who was so used to being alone, but he had to get a closer look at this Sonic doppelganger.

He watched him play around with the deck thing DJs use (having never been in a place like this before, Knuckles didn't have any idea of what the equipment was called), and as he stood there, it because apparent that it definitely was Sonic. In his head he listed the reasons for his conclusion lest he have to explain them to anyone. First and foremost, his appearance - they were freaking identical! Granted he was wearing glasses and had his gloves off, but that hardly altered how someone looked. So either everyone had no idea what Sonic looked like or they were all blind.

"It looks exactly like him!" He hissed to Tails, who looked up at the guy and shook his head.

"I think you're overthinking this," He answered. "Just forget about it,"

The second reason was that he hadn't joined them here tonight. Maybe because he already had plans, plans that involved Club Rouge and DJing. It was more than a little fishy, if you asked him, which you were. Then finally there was his name. _Sonique _was very close to _Sonic, _case in point. But that brought another concern to his mind, why hadn't he told anyone? Did he not want them to know that he was a DJ? That was kind of stupid, it's not like any of them would have cared.

"Amy, can't you see how much they look a like?" He tried her this time. She just shook her head and turned back to where everyone was dancing. You'd think Knuckles would start to doubt his judgement as apparently he was the only one who was able to see it, but no. He was _sure _it was him.

But still, _how_ could they not see it? Tails was way smarter than him, so what was the deal there? He just had glasses on, they were really easy to look past. He was even pulling that familiar smirk, that thing was like his trademark, so _why did no one realise? _It was beyond frustrating! So, on a whim, Knuckles decided to go confront him. What's the worst that could happen anyway? He could get thrown out, which he wouldn't particularly mind (Actually, Rouge wouldn't allow it, but to be honest he'd prefer to leave), and he could take on any of the bouncers. So he stomped off the floor and headed towards the stage.

"Where are you going?" Amy yelled over the music (trust him to play it this loudly).

"To Sonic," He stepped up onto the stage and walked towards the booth, arms crossed over his chest. But as he got closer, he started to worry. What if it wasn't him and he had just convinced himself it was? Maybe they didn't look that much alike at all and he was just imagining it all? He'd look like an idiot if that was the case, but he couldn't turn back now, he was already standing in front of him. _Okay, just focus on the similarities you noticed before._

"Dude, you're not allowed up here," Same voice too.

Knuckles just raised an eyebrow. "Why not, Sonic? I thought I was your friend?"

He seemed to flinch at the mention of his name, making Knuckles feel a little more assured. "My name is pronounced Son eek, and I don't know what you're talking about,"

"I'm pretty sure it's Sonic,"

"Look, Knuckles, I think I know my name," As soon as he said it, he realised his mistake and his face fell.

"I knew it was you!" He pointed his finger accusingly as their friend. "I just can't believe that nobody else realised, it was pretty obvious,"

Sonic laughed. "Apparently no one can recognise me when I wear glasses...besides you, which is weird because it's _you_, Knucklehead,"

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" He retorted, making a swipe for the spectacles. Sonic ducked in time, poking his tongue out as he did so. "Why didn't you say anything to anyone anyway?"

"Rouge knows, considering she hired me," Knuckles cursed the bat under his breath. "And you guys would think it was stupid,"

He just shrugged in response, not willing to admit that maybe it was a little impressive. "You should probably get back to mixing music or whatever it is that DJs do," He mumbled, and Sonic grinned, turning back to his...deck.

He wandered down to where he had began - the booth, deciding to wait the rest of the night out there so he could rub it in everyone else's faces that he was right later on. But for the moment, he was just wondering what the hell had just happened. Sonic was a DJ, Rouge had known all along and _he_ was sitting in a club, the whole situation was absurd. But what was the most concerning was that he had been the only one to figure it out.

* * *

_In the French versions of the games, it seems they pronounce Sonic Sonique, which is where I got that from. Also, it's one of those strange moments that happen in shows and games where the character wears a disguise where it is obviously them yet the others don't recognise them. I hope it made sense!_


	2. Birthday

I seem to only write pointless fics, which is a little sad, to be honest.

The idea for this comes from **StorySmall, **who writes a lovely little fic called **Letters **which is about Tails' life through a series of letters, go figure. One chapter was about his birthday, and while it was a little different to this, I loved the Tornado idea. They said that I could borrow the idea, so that's where this came from. I hope you they enjoy it!

I'm not exactly sure how old Tails is turning, so you can use your imaginations for that part.

* * *

**Birthday.**

* * *

Tails rubbed his sleepy eyes in an attempt to keep them open. He'd been out in his workshop for hours working on the Tornado - upgrading the engine and messing around with various parts which only he knew the name of; and while he knew that he should probably go back inside (his inability to stop his eyes from closing every two seconds was proof of this), the mechanic in him wouldn't allow it until he had completely finished what he was doing.

Fortunately, he _was _almost done. He tightened the final screw and then batted the propellor with his hand to make sure that it wouldn't fly off and hit someone next time they used the plane (he neglected to think of his own safety here, but it was late and he was _tired_). It didn't, and he stood up from his seat and stretched his arms, satisfied that he'd gotten it all completed. Sonic was going to be so pleased, and hopefully that meant he'd get to use it more often.

He cast a glance over to the clock on his desk and his stomach did a flip. It was two in the morning, which meant that it had been his birthday for a whole two hours and he hadn't even known. Of course he knew that today was his birthday, he just hadn't realised it was past midnight yet (he tended to get caught up in his work like this, and in the past had been late to several important things due to it). And no, he hadn't been working hard because he was excited about said day, quite the opposite actually. Today would mark the first birthday he'd had since meeting Sonic, and he hadn't even told him. Being the centre of attention definitely was _not _something he enjoyed too much and it's not like he was really important anyway.

Well, he'd mentioned it months and months ago, but he didn't expect Sonic to remember. Actually, he'd been downplaying it. He, in fact, didn't like his birthday at all as it was the one day his mind decided to hate him and constantly remind him of how...unpleasant his life had been previously. As much as he disliked wallowing in his own self pity, he seemed unable to do anything but that on this particular day. It was stupid, he knew that, but he just...couldn't help it (and in all honestly, he'd prefer just not to have a birthday at all). Plus, he didn't want to ruin Sonic's day by whining, so he hadn't said anything about it. And with that final thought, he dragged himself through the house and into bed.

…

…

…

…

…

…

The day had been as uneventful as he'd imagined. There had been no mention of today being said day and the afternoon had progressed as it normally did. Sonic had gone out running, leaving him alone to do his own thing. There was no need to tinker with stuff as he'd finished it all last night, so he'd ended up just curling up on the couch with a book and some mint chocolate in an attempt to distract himself. To be honest, this birthday had been one of the most pleasant he'd ever had, as sad as that sounded.

He couldn't remember ever having had a birthday that _was _a big deal (he'd been alone for all of them until now and he'd never felt important enough to have a proper celebration anyway), but he imagined that it would all be a little awkward. What with the present giving and everything - how did you respond to that anyway? Just by saying thanks? It felt kind of rude not to give them a gift in return. Plus, everyone would try and keep you happy (which most people liked, as _most people_ liked birthdays), which he didn't want. He just preferred to be treated normally, something he'd been striving for for most his life thus far.

Oh, don't get him wrong, he wasn't against birthdays altogether, he liked celebrating other people's. Just not his.

"Tails!" The voice made him jump, and he looked up from his book to see Sonic hanging his head over the back of the couch. When had he gotten home? "How's it going, buddy?"

He blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes to the sudden change of angle before replying. "Not bad, how about you?"

Sonic walked around to the other side of the lounge so that he was now standing over the young fox. "Yeah, I'm fine - hey, I have something to show you," He grabbed his hand and yanked him up from his position. "Close your eyes first,"

"No way," He laughed. "That's silly,"

"You have to," His brother responded, tapping Tails' nose lightly. "Because otherwise it won't be as much of a surprise," He sighed and shut his eyes tightly, feeling a slight sinking feeling in his stomach. Had Sonic realised it was his birthday? He better not have organised a party...

He felt the other boy pulling him through the room and then into another which he immediately recognised as his workshop (due to how the floor felt when he walked, or perhaps just because he had been stepping on carpet a moment ago and now it felt like cement). Oh great, maybe he hadn't but instead had noticed all the adjustments he'd done on his plane and didn't like them! Darn, he _knew _he should have told him exactly what it was he was doing instead of just assuming he wanted it changed. He hadn't even been able to show Sonic yet because he wanted to take it out for a test run first, but he had to ask permission to use it so he hadn't had a chance.

Oh God, he felt awful. Sonic was going to be so mad at him!

"Ready?"

_No, no, no!_

But one at a time he opened his eyes anyway, and the sight he was greeted with made his jaw drop in surprise. There was a ribbon wrapped around the Tornado, and as he glanced towards Sonic and back to the plane, he put it together in his mind. He wasn't angry, he was...he was giving...

"Happy birthday, Tails!" Sonic cheered, interrupting his thoughts and ruffling the fur on the kit's head. "I know you love this plane, and I don't really use it anyway, so it's yours,"

"No way..." He mumbled, staring up at the vehicle. He turned to Sonic, intending to maturely thank him (he was a year older now), but instead found himself with his arms latched around his brother, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!" He repeated, a huge grin on his face. "This is the best thing ever,"

"Everyone deserves something on their birthday, even if they try to keep it quiet," He smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Tails laughed nervously, he should have known that he couldn't fool his brother. But that didn't matter, because right now he was just feeling so...happy. It was _his _plane now! _His! _It was a mechanic's dream, he could do whatever he wanted to it now!"How did you know anyway?"

"Dude, did you think I'd forgotten when you told me when your birthday was?" He shook his head, but grinned at the younger boy. Tails chewed his lip, embarrassed - he'd underestimated Sonic (which you think he would have learnt not to do after all the times he'd surprised him by doing things like running faster than anyone thought possible). "So when you went to bed last night, I did this," He motioned to the plane.

"But I was up really late!" He protested, and Sonic just shrugged in response.

"Shall we take _your _plane out then?" He responded, and Tails couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Okay, so maybe birthdays weren't so bad after all.


	3. Running

**Running.**

* * *

"What's it like?" Why he'd decided to ask now he didn't know, but they'd been quiet for a while and Sonic seemed bored (he tended to pace around a lot when he was, and he was doing that at the moment) so the time was kind of fitting. The sudden noise seemed to surprise Sonic though, and Tails couldn't help but giggle when the other boy jumped slightly.

"What's what like?"

"Running that fast," He replied, spinning his chair around to face him.

It was Sonic's turn to laugh this time. "Well, you can keep up, so why don't you tell me, buddy?"

He shook his head. "You always slow down so I can run alongside, so I want to know what it's like when you're going as fast as you possibly can,"

Sonic was silent, surprised at the answer. When he realised that he should probably reply, a smirk crossed his features. "It's pretty much the best thing ever," Tails raised an eyebrow, hoping to prompt him into answering with a little more...description. Surely he couldn't just run and not feel anything, he always went on about how he loved it, so there had to be more than just _'the best thing ever'. _But he didn't say anything else and it was just left hanging there awkwardly. They watched each other for a moment afterwards, and then Sonic suddenly hopped up from his seat and grabbed Tails, swinging him up onto his shoulders.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He cried out in surprise.

But all Sonic answered with was an extremely helpful "Just hang on tight!" So, taking caution (and because he was worried he was going to topple off), he placed his hands on his brother's shoulders and gripped them tightly. And within half a second of doing this, they had left his workshop and were now hurtling to God knows where at a very _frightening _speed. He hadn't been expecting a take off that quickly (he didn't know what he had been expecting) and he felt his heart leap in his chest. Once he got over the initial shock of going so fast, the second realisation came; and that was that they _weren't _slowing down. Oh no, they were getting faster.

There was a sudden and extremely loud noise, causing the young fox to yelp and grip onto his brother for dear life. It was only then did he understand how fast they were actually going.

Of course he knew that Sonic was fast, _everyone _knew that, but when he had asked that question he hadn't expected that _he'd _soon be going fast. It was super dangerous and he knew that they could very well hit something and either be seriously injured or killed. Yet Sonic was willing to risk that every day, and he was _still _willing to risk it while carrying him. He'd never been badly hurt by his own running before, which restored a little faith in the poor fox, but they were going too quickly for him to really think about anything other than fear.

"Are you sure this is safe?" He mumbled, glancing down at Sonic to see that he was wearing a huge grin.

"Of course!" He replied. "All I have to know is that if that tree is a hundred metres in front of us, then I have to swerve in about a third of a second," And he did, narrowly missing slamming them both into said tree. Tails felt like he was going to have a heart attack, how could Sonic be so calm about it? It was such risky business and they were going _so _uncontrollably fast (being as smart as he was, he knew that the probability of crashing into something was a lot higher when moving so quickly)! Well, Sonic could control it, but there was that skeptical thought in the back of Tails' mind that disagreed with that statement. He tightened his hold on his brother, and thankfully he took this as a sign to stop running so quickly and slowed down to a jog (even the slowing down was done remarkably quick).

Eventually they came to a complete stop and Sonic lifted him off his shoulders. When placed back on the ground, his knees buckled and he almost fell over. "What if you misjudged that?" He exclaimed, throwing his equally as jelly-like arms up in the air. "We could have been really hurt!" He'd always believed that Sonic would be able to stop Eggman whenever anything happened, but now having had firsthand experience of going that quickly, he'd definitely be more concerned next time and _not _because of the Doctor.

"I know," He laughed. "But when have I ever made a mistake before?" Tails hesitated, trying to come up with an argument that didn't sound like he was just scared, but came up empty. Seeing his expression, Sonic continued. "If it makes you feel any better, I used to be awful at it and I'd bump into things all the time,"

It didn't really. "Even trees?"

"Especially trees," He laughed again. "But I've had a lot of practise, you're totally safe," Tails nodded. "So, let's go again,"

"Maybe not," He was still recovering from the first time, and he didn't know if he'd even be able to survive going that fast again, mentally and physically. But despite that, he was starting to respect the speed at which his brother could run. It couldn't be easy and he'd have to be hyper-alert to everything, not only that, it was _scary._

"Don't you trust me, buddy?" Was the answer.

"No, I do," He sighed. "It's just that, well -"

"Then you have to believe me that we're not going to get hurt," He picked Tails up and placed him on his shoulders again. Oh great, there was no backing out now. But what Sonic said was true, he could at least _try _to be a little braver. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad this time, it would be as much of a shock at least. "And how many times have I fought Eggman and his robots running this fast without getting so much as a scratch on me?"

He couldn't help but chuckle at this. "A lot of times,"

"That's right," He replied. "And I go running everyday. So do you trust me now?"

"I...I guess so," He was still nervous, and no amount of prepping from Sonic would help that, but at least this time he was a little more expectant. He stepped forward, getting ready to run. He braced himself for the sudden movement, but instead found himself talking again. "Do you ever get scared?"

He stopped mid-stride, tilting his head up to look at the young fox. "I used to," He admitted. "When I was really young. But when you're going this fast, you can't really afford to be frightened because that's when you'll make mistakes," Tails nodded, smiling for the first time since they'd left. "And all _you_ have to do is hold on,"

His smile got wider, maybe it wouldn't be so bad this time. "Let's go, Sonic,"

And they were off.

He felt his heart start to pound nervously again, but he told himself to stay calm. It seemed to work, and gradually the worries started to melt away and instead he was able to focus on just how _cool _it was that they were going this fast - feeling the wind rushing against his fur, moving past everything so quickly that it was all gone in an instant. He may have liked knowing facts and statistics, but it kind of paled in comparison to the freedom of this. It even rivalled how good he felt when he flew!

But just as all his concerns had left and he was totally having fun, they stopped. He looked up and saw that they were now standing right in front of his workshop again. Well, that had been over entirely too fast. He supposed that was the downside to running like that, things finished a lot sooner than they would otherwise. Surprisingly, he didn't find himself too disappointed by this though and was really just glad that he'd done it and had fun too. Sonic had been right, you'd never get anywhere if you didn't try (even if he hadn't really done any of the work this time).

* * *

Obviously Tails can't run as fast as Sonic, he is the fastest thing alive after all.

_here you go way too fast  
don't slow down you're gonna crash  
you should watch - watch your stay here  
don't look out you're gonna break your neck_


	4. Skating

**Skating.**

* * *

Shadow felt his feet slide out from underneath him for about the fiftieth time that day and subsequently toppled over, quickly stretching his arms out to catch himself so he didn't land face first on the ground. He cursed under his breath and wiped his palms off before standing back up to try once more. He knew that in a few minutes he'd stack it again, and the thought of that made him shudder (and hope to God that no one was watching him at the moment), but he pressed on anyway. Still, it didn't stop him asking himself why the hell he was doing this to begin with.

Oh right, Maria.

She had told him that if he mastered them that they'd be really useful and would also help perfect his agility and reflexes (not that he needed to do that, he _was _the Ultimate Lifeform after all). To be honest, he didn't give a damn about them, but she had been so insistent that he try them so he couldn't bring himself to refuse and thus disappoint her.

His feet started to wobble again and panicking he made a grab for something to steady himself on. Unfortunately this sudden movement made his feet fully slide out and as there was nothing much to hold onto, he ended up falling straight to the ground. He let out a grunt of frustration; Shadow the Hedgehog did _not _like failing at anything, let alone something that should be so simple! Seriously, all he had to do was alternate his arms and legs, which wasn't that different from walking, and he should be able to do it. But _no, _every few metres or so, his legs would jerk out and he'd flail around like an idiot before landing on the ground.

Goddamn, he was _never _going to get the hang of these "hoverskates".

* * *

_This one is super short, so sorry. I hope it's still decent enough. I got the idea yesterday whilst out rollerskating because I was sucking majorly at it. Surely Shadow wasn't just created with the ability to skate really well (actually, he probably was, therefore this chapter = redundant, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that Gerald would think about), and he would have had to master it sometime._

_I hope I wrote Shadow okay, I haven't had much practise with him._


	5. Identity

****So, this is set in Sonic and Knuckles, just after Eggman's stolen the Master Emerald in the Hidden Palace Zone. As for Knuckles, it doesn't sound like a very...realistic name, does it? And it kind of sounds like something Sonic would make up, considering how he named Tails.

Also, thanks to the few people who reviewed :) AND RuningWitSizorz, I will start writing our story soon, I promise!

* * *

**Identity.**

* * *

"Just because I'm working with you now doesn't mean that we're friends," The echidna muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm just glad you've finally come to your senses about Eggman," Sonic started to laugh but stopped upon noticing the glare being shot his way. Okay, apparently now was _not _time to be joking (he'd never been very good at reading the atmosphere anyway). So he sighed instead and looked out over the island to see what he'd soon have to face. His companion had called it his sky sanctuary, and it wasn't hard to see why - the place was thousands of feet up in the air and admittedly quite lovely to look at. It was a real shame that it was currently being ravaged by insane robots and he liked to hope that by the time he did actually get rid of the Doctor that it wouldn't be too badly damaged.

Though the longer they sat here the worse the place would get. _But _the other guy was exhausted and Sonic wasn't willing to risk the health of a team mate, especially not one that was so volatile. He'd unfortunately been at the receiving end of his anger a fair few times recently, and now that they were finally on decent terms he definitely didn't want to ruin that. So they'd stopped for a few minutes to rest and were currently sitting on one of the crumbling walls, legs dangling off the side of it. To be honest, it was a bit weird having this one moment of total peace (well, minus the animosity he was still receiving from the person next to him) amidst all that chaos they'd been involved in, so to suddenly be so still felt almost...wrong.

He looked over to the echidna and frowned, he had pulled his knees up to his chest and was resting his head on them. The guy shouldn't have been brought into this, it had nothing to do with him (even if he _had _been trying to kill him not too long ago).

...

Wait, the _guy._

There was something about that that didn't sound quite right.

Oh, that's it.

Things had been so hectic that he hadn't had time to think about anything other than smashing badniks and while sitting here, he had just realised that he hadn't been addressing the other by anything other than 'that guy' or 'echidna'.

"Dude, I don't even know your name," He lifted his head up from his knees and looked pointedly in the other direction, _not _answering. Great, they'd just been starting to get along and now he was ignoring him. They weren't going to get anything done at this rate. "Hello?" He shuffled over closer and waved a hand in front of his face. "I'm talking to you! What's your name?"

"I'm not telling you!" He yelled suddenly, causing Sonic to jump backwards in surprise and almost topple off the wall. Geez, he knew the guy got fired up easily, but over something like this...? It was true that he probably didn't trust him that much, but what harm could knowing his name do?

"It's just a name," He retorted after having regained his balance. "Did you want me to keep calling you dude the whole time?"

The echidna's face fell at this and he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, no..."

"Then tell me," There was silence and it was clear the other was hesitating, but why Sonic couldn't work out. Granted, he didn't like to tell anyone _his_ real name, but he had something to go by at least. "Because if you don't, I'm just going to assume that you don't have one and that's ridiculous becau-" He started to ramble off on some spiel but stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the guy nodding with a faint blush. Oh man, he'd just hit the nail on the head, hadn't he?

"Who needs a name when you're up here alone all the time?" God, he probably hadn't meant it to come out sounding so - Sonic cast his mind for the appropriate term - pitiful, but it had and he actually felt kind of bad for him, strangely enough. He hadn't considered how lonely it must have gotten sitting up here for so many years, but was it really so isolated he didn't even have something to call himself? He must have been named once upon a time so perhaps he'd just forgotten, but he wasn't going to pry anymore (no matter how much he wanted to) out of politeness but mainly fear of being subjected to the echidna's anger.

"You do," He said. "Because now you're not alone," And for the first time he thought he saw a hint of a smile on his companion. "Knuckles,"

"What?"

"That's what I'm going to call you,"

"It's a stupid name,"

"It'll grow on you," He grinned and jumped off the wall, stretching his arms as he did so. "Let's get going, Knux, we've been here too long,"

Knuckles made a face at the shortening of his new moniker, but followed the other boy anyway. "You can go ahead," He said, taking a leap over a precarious gap in the ground. Sonic frowned, judging the distance. He wouldn't be able to make it (the other only had because he could do that weird gliding thing, Sonic reasoned) and would probably end up plummeting down onto Angel Island or worse, into the ocean. Knuckles noticed this uncertainty and smirked slightly before shouldering a nearby wall (just like the one they'd been sitting on) and sent it crashing down, forming some sort of bridge. "I might stay here a little longer,"

"Suit yourself," Sonic replied, flashing him a thumbs up. "I didn't think you'd be tough enough to handle the rest anyway," And without waiting for the reaction to his comment, Sonic dashed up the hill and out of the way of a very angry echidna.


	6. Velocity

**Velocity.**

* * *

Amy grabbed ahold of the metal bar running along the outside of the training track to help herself onto her gear. One hand at a time she let go of it and steadied herself so it didn't flip out from underneath her. She wobbled a little, but eventually managed to stand on it properly and leant forward to start it up. She moved slowly at first, not wanting to take the first corner quickly for fear of falling or skidding and hitting the bar, but once she had cleared that there was a long stretch with no turns for a while. She kicked the ground with her foot to speed the gear up and soon she was hurtling along at an utterly terrifying but at the same time _thrilling _pace.

It's not that she wasn't good at riding Extreme Gear, she was in fact quite capable and had won several races back in the city. But they had just been amateur ones, _this _was the World Grand Prix! The best racers from all around the globe were going to be here, and she'd have to be competing against them, which was starting to freak her out. Of course there was one other person that was also going to be here, and he was the reason she had signed up to compete in this ridiculous thing to begin with. But speeding along like this, practicing on the _advanced _training route, she was starting to question whether or not it had been a good idea to follow Sonic. There was no way she stood a chance against these professional riders!

Amy bent her knees, getting ready to jump off the ramp she could see ahead. She'd been practicing for at least two hours now on this same track yet she was still having trouble turning the corner that came immediately after, almost _always _not landing properly causing her to not have enough acceleration to get around it. Then she'd either fall off her board or just come to a complete stop just before she hit the bar. It was beyond frustrating, but she wouldn't let herself give up until she had nailed it because if she couldn't even work the training route what hope did she have out in the actual courses?

She jumped, taking up off the ramp. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind whip around her and smiled. If there was one good thing about this fiasco, it was this moment - the _one _second of absolute stillness where she would hang in the air before she would go plummeting back towards the ground. It was probably dangerous to not be able to see what was going on around her, but to be honest she didn't really care, it was worth the risk.

She felt herself start to fall and she opened her eyes again, suddenly hyper-aware of where she was. She grabbed her gear and guided it down towards the track, landing with a soft thud. If she thought about it, the descent was quite frightening as she was going _so _fast, but because of the speed she _didn't _really have time to think about it (and here she briefly wondered if that's how her beloved felt every time he ran). She turned the gear, gently guiding it around the sharp turn proceeding the ramp. Oh God, was she doing it?

Yes, she was.

She'd cleared it, narrowly missing the bar but missing it nonetheless. Wow, she had pretty much convinced herself she'd never actually be able to do it, but she had! She'd gotten around that awful corner that she'd screwed up on _every single time _she'd practiced on the damn track. The satisfaction was unbelievable and she couldn't help but let out a cheer, all those tries hadn't been in vain after all!

But as soon as she thought she was done, another sharp turn lay out in front of her. She bit her lip half in surprise and fear and attempted to turn her gear fast enough to get around it. Unfortunately it _wasn't _fast enough and she soon saw she was headed straight towards that metal safety bar _again_.

_For a safety bar, it certainly wasn't doing it's job very well._

Amy turned her gear the opposite way to try and stop herself slamming into it, and while this worked it also caused her to lose her balance and fall off it. She hit the ground and skidded for a moment before coming to a complete stop. Her gear sped on for a moment longer before slowing down and eventually stopping several metres ahead.

She lay there for a moment letting her mind register just exactly what had happened. It hadn't been the first time she'd fallen today, but none of the others had been quite so bad. She pushed herself into sitting, wincing at the movement and inspected the damage. Her palms were grazed and she'd definitely have some bruises on her knees, but she hadn't hit her head or anything thankfully and figured she was getting off quite lightly considering the speed she'd just been travelling.

"What a crash," A voice interrupted her thoughts and when she realised who it belonged to a mad blush crept its way over her cheeks.

"It _hurt, _Sonic," She retorted, sending a glare in his direction to try and hide her embarrassment. _Of course _he had to see her stack it, him of all people. "Not something to be joking about,"

"It was pretty impressive though," He laughed, unaffected by her reprimanding him. "But in all seriousness, are you alright?"

She couldn't help but smile at this, it was the first time she'd properly seen him at the event and even though she was mortified, he was still caring for her...in his way. "I'm fine," She mumbled, casting her eyes down. She paused there for a moment and when she looked back up, she saw he had moved from his position resting on the bar and was now standing over her, his hand extended out. "What are you doing?" She eyed it warily. As much as she wanted to jump up and down screaming with joy, this was something that he'd never done before and she hadn't expected it.

"It doesn't matter then," Sonic answered, pulling his hand away.

"No!" She yelped, grabbing hold of it and yanking herself up. "Sorry, I'm just kind of dazed still," Once totally recovered and actually able to think straight, Amy found herself wondering where exactly he'd come from. She hoped that he'd been watching and cheering her on the whole time, but that seemed unlikely. "How did you see me fall anyway?"

"I was about to come practice myself actually," He admitted. "But as I was walking past you came out from around that corner and your gear went crazy and then you fell off it,"

She nodded, the previous embarrassment rising again. "Yeah, well, thanks for stopping at least," They were silent after that, and it was kind of...awkward. She felt like throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him, but something was stopping her. Be it embarrassment or the fact that he was actually talking to her properly, she just didn't want to stuff it up and for him to go away.

And then she had a brilliant idea.

"Can you help me?"

"What?" It was his turn to be taken aback, and he looked at her in surprise.

"Well, I always stuff up on those really sharp turns and you're pretty good at Extreme Gear, so..." She recoiled slightly, waiting for the rejection. But hey, it had been worth a shot, right?

He seemed to be considering it, and this raised a little hope for Amy. "As much as I should be practicing myself," He replied, and with that her heart sunk again. "I don't really like seeing anyone get hurt, so yeah," He sighed and gave a final look towards the beginning of the track, knowing that he wasn't going to get there any time soon.

"Thank you!" She squealed before mentally scolding herself. _Way to blow it already, Amy. It's not a date, he just wants to help you, that's all. _Still embarrassed, she jogged over to where her gear had landed and picked it up before rejoining the other hedgehog.

"Hop up on your gear over there," He pointed to where the first turn ended. "And kick dash so you'll have the speed to get around the corner," She did as he said, hopping up on her gear slowly and precariously. The last thing she wanted was to slip off now and further embarrass herself. She started moving the gear, leaning towards the turn so she could push herself around it. She got halfway there and unfortunately moved a little too far and ended up having to brake just before she slammed face first into the safety bar.

Sonic started to laugh at this, and she growled under her breath, _he was supposed to be teaching her, not making fun! _"You should be more polite," She spat, hopping back up onto her gear.

"Okay," He shrugged. "But that's no fun, and you're the one who asked me to begin with,"

Amy started the routine again, fully focused on not giving him a reason to laugh at her again. She neared the corner and leant forward to speed up and direct herself around it. But alas, once more she ended up having to brake. And again. And again. She sighed in frustration, she was _never _going to get this right, and worse still, she was making a fool out of herself to the one person she always tried desperately to impress. She felt like the biggest idiot.

"I can't work out what you're doing wrong," Sonic said. "Try one more time for me, okay?" She nodded, but the outcome was the same - hurtling towards that 'safety' bar. She frowned and jumped off the gear before walking over to him. She was just about ready to throw the towel in, this was ridiculous. _But_ she wouldn't let herself, she had to race tomorrow _and _if she continued she would get to spend more time with Sonic.

"I just cant d-"

"Put your gear down!" He exclaimed suddenly, making her jump with the sudden outburst. "But don't hop onto it yet," She did as she was told, placing it next to her feet and turning away from him to grab onto the bar. It was then that she felt his hands on her waist and she almost jumped out of her skin. After the initial surprise had worn off, she had to physically stop herself from hopping up and down with joy. _He's holding me!_ She felt a shiver go up her spine and her stomach start to flutter, oh how she'd dreamt of something like this happening, it was so romantic!

And then he lifted her onto her gear and removed his hands, seemingly oblivious as to what he had done. "The first step to racing properly is starting correctly, it's really hard to get going if you're wobbling all over the place," She nodded, kind of disappointed he'd let go. His hands had been so soft, they would fit so perfectly into hers! Oh, a girl could dream, couldn't she? "And when you're about to turn, don't lean in so much because you end up going way too far out,"

It was hard to focus this time, her heart was still beating like crazy and she kept going to look back at him. She directed her gear towards the turn and only leant forward an inch, it rounded it perfectly and she cleared it with no hassle whatsoever. She should have been happier about that, but she was still just so hung up on what had just happened with Sonic. But hey, at least she might have a shot with the race tomorrow, it was only the first round after all.

"Good work!" He cheered, walking over to where she'd come to a halt. "I knew you'd get there eventually," He flashed her a thumbs up.

"Well, I did have the best teacher," She exclaimed, and it was at this moment Amy lost the self control she'd built up and enveloped him in a huge hug, nuzzling her cheek against his shoulder. As soon as she did it, she regretted it, knowing full well that she'd messed up the friendliness they'd had going, _so stupid!_ "Thanks, Sonic,"

It was _his _turn to blush this time and he awkwardly placed his arms back around her, hugging gently before pulling away. "It was nothing," He smiled. "But I should probably go practice now, I don't think you're going to fall off again anytime soon," She nodded, watching him grab his gear and run off in the direction of the starting line. That had certainly been nice, and she hadn't screwed up everything _too _badly, not even the end...in the end. But if she had known he was going to leave as soon as she got it right then she would have stuffed up a few more times. Oh well, she'd see him tomorrow at the race anyway and just maybe she could fall off then as well...

* * *

_This is pretty much the first romance thing I've uploaded to this site, I feel kinda dirty because I don't much like romance fics, haha. Hopefully it's decent anyhow! Thanks for reading!_


	7. Collapse

**Collapse.**

* * *

After the initial euphoria of the world being saved and _not _being dead at the hands of a giant water monster had worn off, Amy had a chance to look around, taking in everything that had happened. Upon seeing it all, what she felt was the exact opposite of what she felt a few minutes ago. Now it was dread - dread and just feeling awful in general. The city was completely flooded, and not just ankle deep either, the water was like, five storeys high. It would take them months to clear it all up, but even then there would be issues that would last for years. Plus, it would cost so much to repair and most people didn't have that sort of money, she knew she certainly didn't.

It made her so mad, the injustice of it all. So many people were suffering, they had lost their homes, their loved ones or their _lives_, and for what? An insane scientist who was doing this all for his personal gain. It was just so _wrong._

"We have to help them somehow," A young voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to face Tails, nodding in agreement. "There could be hundreds of people stranded in those other buildings," He motioned to the structures that miraculously hadn't toppled over, taking a step forward and placing his hands on the safety rail of the bridge they were standing on. He sighed and she could tell that he was struggling to cope with what had happened, just like she was. Eggman had attacked lots of times, but never before had it been on such a large extent. People had _died!_

"I know," She answered. "There is bound to be a _'clean up the city' _initiative in a few hours, but for now something needs to be done. I wonder where Sonic went, we could really use his help," She stared out at the ruined city in front of her, feeling miserable again. Most of the buildings had been knocked down, so at least there weren't that many to go and explore, but that wasn't really a good thing.

Her eyes darted over the skyline and settled on one empty space. There was something familiar about it, but at the same time it was completely unknown and she couldn't really work out why. Had there always been a gap in the city there? She continued to study the area, trying desperately to place why she thought she knew it and to quell the anxiety that was rising. _Something bad has happened there._

And then the penny dropped and she felt like she was going to pass out, she knew _exactly _what it was but had been so preoccupied with everything else that she hadn't even realised... "Tails?" She asked quietly, her voice wavering.

"Yeah?"

"...I live in Station Square,"

That was where her building had been.

She noticed his grip on the rail tighten and he inhaled sharply, his expression twisting into a frown. "Oh my God, Amy,"

"What am I going to do?" She shut her eyes tightly, hoping that when she re-opened them it would all have disappeared, that the whole Chaos incident never even happened. Of course she knew that this wouldn't be the case, but when you're desperate, anything seems feasible. She looked out over the city again, taking a deep breath. The best thing to do was to think about it rationally, perhaps her things hadn't been lost? The building may have fallen over, but everything could still just be sitting there waiting for her to come and collect it all.

Oh, who was she kidding? _Everything _was gone.

"I don't know," Tails replied, his voice small. Never before had any of them had to deal with something like this. "You can come stay with me until everything is okay again, if you'd like,"

She blinked slowly, letting what he'd just said sink in. And then she was hugging him, her arms squeezing tight around his shoulders. She'd never hugged the kid before, but the offer of giving her somewhere to live and the fact she was just feeling so lost had been too much, and she couldn't help it. At first he straightened up, obviously surprised at the sudden embrace, but after a second or two he relaxed slightly and clung onto her himself.

It was here that Amy realised that Tails was just as scared as she was. He may have put on a brave face and behaved way too grown up for someone his age, but when it really came down to it, he was absolutely petrified. Neither of them had thought that Eggman would cause something this destructive - that even though they had stopped him, hundreds of lives had still been lost and even more people now had no where to live and no jobs. But what was most frightening was that they were right at the centre of it, being directly affected, just like everyone else.

Tails hugged her tighter and she ruffled the fur on his head. He was so young, he shouldn't have to deal with something like this, it wasn't fair. Granted, she wasn't old enough herself, but she was still _older _than _him_, so no matter how bad she was feeling or that she had just lost her home, she had to set a good example. She would show him that they had to be strong and help everyone, not just stand there and think about how awful things had become. So she swallowed hard and pushed down the fear in her stomach. It wasn't an easy thing and her head was yelling _what will I do? I have nothing left anymore _the whole time,but she did it and let go of the kit slowly.

Immediately he retracted, hiding his arms behind his back nervously. "I'm sorry, Amy! I just...it's because...I mean, I thought we were all going to die and now I don't know what to do," He spoke as if he'd offended her, and she thought this odd as she was the one who had hugged him first. "But I shouldn't be complaining, I didn't lose my home," And with those few words, everything bad she'd managed to put out of her mind came crashing back in and she had to take a deep breath to stop herself from breaking down all over again.

_Keep it together, he's obviously worried and you don't want to make it worse._

"It's okay...I'm okay," Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the crowds of people who had made it to higher ground or had been on the bridges when the city had begun to flood starting to converge at the lowest point that wasn't underwater. Obviously they were going to organise assistance or something, and considering they were here too, they should probably go join them. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it in reassurance. She may not believe that things were okay, but she could help him believe that. "Come on, Tails, let's go help,"

* * *

_So at the beginning of Amy's story in SA, she says she lives in Station Square or something. So yeah, wouldn't that mean that her house would have been destroyed too? That's where this came from :)_

_I'm a little worried this story is hit and miss too, but I seriously couldn't work out what else to write. I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! And originally this was just a story on it's own, but I decided that I didn't really want to clog up my profile with lots of stories, so I just added it to this collection instead :)  
_


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